An arena with zero premium offerings builds a full hospitality menu, all while retaining an architectural icon.

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INDUSTRY AND ASSOCIATION NEWS: ALSD MEMBER VENUE HIGHLIGHT
A
fteroverfiveyearsof planning,aswell as
three years and six phases of construc-
tion, the comprehensive renovations to
State Farm Center at the University of
Illinois are finished, completely transforming
the venue, yet effectively retaining the legacy
and tradition of one of the sports venue mar-
ketplace’s great architectural achievements.
The result is an arena that feels new, per-
forms new, and accomplishes the university’s
clear objectives to create a new revenue mod-
el for the building,as well as the best possible
in-game basketball environment with wow
factors upon arrival and in premium spaces
that fans had previously been unable to ex-
perience.
Prior to the renovation, there wasn’t one
single seat in the building designated as pre-
mium, not one broom closet patrons could
access for hospitality to sweep their guests
off their feet. Now there are suites, loge seats,
State Farm Center preserves and adds
legacy and tradition
An arena with zero premium offerings builds a full hospitality menu, all while retaining an architectural icon.
courtside seats with club access, a student
club, and two additional spaces aptly named
the Traditions Club and the Legacy Club.
A HISTORY LESSON
To understand how we got here,we must first
understand the building’s rich history. State
Farm Center is a mid-century modern icon.
The famous concrete dome structure, which
opened as Assembly Hall on March 2, 1963,
was originally designed by acclaimed archi-
tect and University of Illinois alumnus Max
Abramovitz of Harrison & Abramovitz fame.
“Lots of significant work came from
[Abramovitz] and that office,” says Greg
Brown, Project Designer/Senior Associate
at AECOM and project leader for the State
Farm Center renovations.“A lot of decisions,
in keeping with the spirit of the iconic build-
ing that we inherited, were made for us.”
In addition to their desire to remain true to
Abramovitz’s original vision, Brown and his
design team also took cues from history to in-
form design decisions because the building is
eligible for listing on the National Register of
Historic Places. Working closely with the Il-
linois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA),
the existing features of the building that
make it iconic were identified and celebrated
in the renovation design.
The most prominent example is the
360-degree, angled-in glass curtain wall that
forms the boundary of the venue’s upper con-
course and encloses the arena underneath the
dome, whose unique shape gives the illusion
that a flying saucer has landed in the middle
of Champaign, Illinois. The challenge for
AECOM became maintaining the building’s
transparent feature while replacing the alien
experience on the upper concourse with pro-
grammable square footage needed for con-
temporary standards.
NewTradition: Warren Hood, Deputy Director of Athletics
at the University of Illinois, describes an unintended
consequence of State Farm Center’s newTraditions Club:
“We’ve found a lot of people don’t even go down to their
seats.That was something we hadn’t planned. [The patio] has
really turned into a social hub.”

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INDUSTRY AND ASSOCIATION NEWS: ALSD MEMBER VENUE HIGHLIGHT
STATE FARM CENTER RENOVATION
AT A GLANCE
Construction Cost: $170 million
Architect: AECOM
General Contractor: Turner/Clayco
Naming Rights: State Farm – $60 million over 30 years
New Hospitality Clubs: Club 53, Traditions Club, Legacy Club
New Student Club: Orange Krush Club
Additional Premium Seating: 12 Suites and 144 Loge Seats
Prior to the renovation, the upper con-
course level, which services 10,000 seats, was
without a permanent concession point of sale
or a permanent restroom fixture.In fact,there
were only four restrooms in the entire facility.
“It’s hard to imagine that when they first
built it, the plan was to not have any conces-
sions in the facility,”says Warren Hood,Dep-
uty Director of Athletics at the University of
Illinois. “And if you can imagine, especially
for a basketball game, all of those 10,000
people [in the upper concourse] would come
downstairs to the four bathrooms. The lines
were incredibly long. So from a fan experi-
ence perspective, it was not adequate at all
for today’s standards. It really needed to be
brought up to the 21st century with the ame-
nities that people expect in this day and age.”
To maintain the historic form of the build-
ing while simultaneously installing restrooms
and concession stands, the glass curtain wall
was taken down,bumped out 12 feet,and laid
back at a shallower angle in order to create
additional width on the upper concourse.
“Our goal was to create a building that was
completely transformed, yet felt entirely fa-
miliar,” says Brown. “We tried to make that
familiar statement but make it in a contem-
porary fashion that also would allow us to ac-
complish the things we needed to accomplish
from a programming standpoint.”
ADDITIONAL FACILITY
ENHANCEMENTS
Also prior to the renovation,State Farm Cen-
ter had no real entrance into the building.
Now on both the east and west sides,new ex-
pansive entryways have been built, alleviating
the need for fans to have to wait outside in the
single-digit temperatures of a January night in
Illinois before gaining entry into the building
or picking up tickets at will call.
The fan experience has also been made
more comfortable for the warm summer
months. Previously, the building had no air
conditioning, making it impossible to pro-
gram for at least three months out of the year.
Now State Farm Center operates as a multi-
purpose facility for all 12 months of the year
“Our goal was to create a building that was
completely transformed, yet felt entirely familiar.”
– Greg Brown, AECOM

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INDUSTRY AND ASSOCIATION NEWS: ALSD MEMBER VENUE HIGHLIGHT
Top: State Farm Center’s 12 new suites were literally carved out the arena’s existing structural support system, resulting in a premium
product that’s woven into the continuous rake of the seating bowl.
Bottom: Club 53 is now the arena’s most exclusive space, designed with high-end furniture and fixtures, as well as spirited thematic
overlays, that are adjacent to the players locker room on the event level.
Club 53
Starting on the floor,two rows of 60 courtside
seats have been inserted. These seat holders
have access to the newly introduced Club 53,
which is named for former Illini player Dave
Downy who holds the single game record
for points scored with 53. State Farm Cen-
ter’s most premium and intimate space is de-
signed with conventional components, such
as a high-end bar and banquette seating, but
it’s the flexible space in the front of the room
where Club 53 shines in the premium product
portfolio.
This highest-priced club option is located
in the bowels of the building on the event
level, adjacent to storage and back-of-house
spaces. But because of its proximity to the
circulation path for the Fighting Illini play-
ers going to and from their locker room,
AECOM developed a pop-up concept that
spills out of Club 53 into the back-of-house
space.
With some subtle interior elements – tile
on the floor, metal mesh drapery, and move-
able furniture – Club 53 extends to accom-
modate demand for the space that might flex
up or down from event to event, or even dur-
ing events in peak moments,such as pregame,
when the players make their way to the court.
The Suites
Perhaps the most unique features of the reno-
vation are the building’s 12 new suites, which
were shaped out of a portion of State Farm
Center’s 48 raker beams that hold up the
edge-supported dome.
“We went in and excavated between the
structural buttresses,”Brown says.“We found
space within the building that previously
didn’t even exist and carved out volume to
tuck suites in between the existing structural
buttresses.”
By using the arena’s given constraints to
their advantage, Brown and his design team
created a suite product with optimal sight-
lines and exclusivity,but also one that is fused
with the energy of the seating bowl, a prod-
uct that intervenes the mid to lower bowl,
but one that is intentionally woven into the
and, in addition to Fighting Illini men’s and
women’s basketball, boasts an event calen-
dar in 2016-17 that includes Dierks Bent-
ley (who christened the re-opened building
on October 27th), Jason Derulo, Green Day,
and the WCIA 3 Broadway Series. Premium
seat donors have first right of refusal and are
granted presale access to concerts and other
events in the arena.
Additional amenities available for all fans
include new seats from Irwin Seating, a
Panasonic center-hung video board, ribbon
boards, and LED lights.
PREMIUM SEATING RUNDOWN
“On the premium amenity side,we had none,”
says Hood. “Absolutely nothing existed there
before.”
Now State Farm Center has something for
everybody in terms of different styles of pre-
mium seating with different price points and
vantage points.
“On the premium amenity side, we had none.
Absolutely nothing existed there before.”
– Warren Hood, University of Illinois

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INDUSTRY AND ASSOCIATION NEWS: ALSD MEMBER VENUE HIGHLIGHT
bowl’s continuous rake.
The resulting form is an unconventional
suite that’s one-third covered with a ceil-
ing, tucked underneath the upper level seats
above, and two-thirds open to the seating
bowl.
“When you’re sitting in that suite, you
definitely feel much more a part of the at-
mosphere than you would in a conventional
condition,”Brown says.
Traditions Club
The 12 suites are adjacent to what is now the
largest club in State Farm Center. The Tra-
ditions Club, which straddles the lower and
upper concourses, is flanked by six suites to
its right, six suites to its left. Its interior de-
sign celebrates expressions of the 53-year-old
architecture, acknowledging the building’s
proud heritage.
Fans are now able to walk through and be-
tween the newly exposed raker beams, which
are the essence of the building, connecting
the concrete compression ring at the bottom
of the arena with the tension ring holding up
the dome all the way at its top.
Suite holders share access to the Tradi-
tions Club, its history lessons, and its direct
connection to the seating bowl and in-game
experience with 1,188 club seat holders. The
leading-edge of the Traditions Club, dubbed
“the patio”, is a popular viewing platform
with a mid-court condition that offers pa-
trons with a place to congregate and share a
social experience in arguably the best location
in the house.
“We’ve found a lot of people don’t even go
down to their seats,” says Hood. “That was
something we hadn’t planned.[The patio] has
really turned into a social hub.”
Orange Krush Club
Another unique feature in the building in
terms of a club space is its student-specific
club space – the Orange Krush Club.
The Orange Krush is the student support
group of the Fighting Illini men’s basketball
team. This student group has a proud pres-
ence at home games and a proud history of
service to the community and to the univer-
sity, including to the arena renovation. The
Orange Krush made a significant donation
in addition to a $25 per semester student fee
that was self-imposed to help fund the proj-
ect.
The students have been rewarded with a
space all to themselves and twice the number
of seats on the court. Three-quarters of the
seats on the court will now be populated by
students.
COMING UP NEXT:
BROWARD CENTER
BRINGS PREMIUM
TO THE ARTS
“It was important to the University of Il-
linois to make sure that they were taking care
of their students and paying them back for
the support,”says Brown.
The Orange Krush Club, a first of its kind
in college athletics, provides students with a
hub for pregame activity. So no more hav-
ing to wait in tents in the freezing cold to
get into the arena before games. Once in the
club, students find lots of multimedia oppor-
tunities and cheaper concessions. There is a
no alcohol policy.
Legacy Club
New for the 2016-2017 season is the Legacy
Club, located directly across from the Orange
Krush Club on the south side of the building.
Both of these clubs were created on what was
previously mechanical mezzanine space where
all of the 53-year-old mechanical equipment
was located.New mechanical rooms were cre-
ated outside of the existing footprint to make
room for the new premium amenities.
“A theme of the design work was finding
spaces within the building with some oppor-
tunities to flip those spaces or transform the
use of those spaces,”says Brown.
Unlike the Traditions Club, the Legacy
Club does not have views of the court, but it
does offer a premium space behind the south
basket for club seat holders (whose seats are
above the club) who previously had no such
amenity option.
The thematic overlay of the Legacy Club
incorporates the entire campus and recog-
nizes the names of famous Illinois alums, not
necessarily just athletic alums.
Loge Seats
Rounding out the new premium portfolio are
144 loge seats with granite countertops and
in-seat service located behind the north bas-
ket.Loge seat holders do not have a dedicated
AWhole New Experience: Having accelerated past an unfamiliarity and slow adoption rate early on, the 144 loge seats behind the
north basket are now considered by those seat holders to be the best in-game experience in the arena.
“You don’t see [loge boxes] a lot in central Illinois. They
gave our fans a whole new way to watch a game.”
– Bobbi Busboom, University of Illinois
[continued on page 118]

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INWEGO
[continued from page 52]
State Farm Center
[continued from page 70]
club space, but they are provided access to the
Traditions Club.
The loge space sold with less velocity than
the other premium products,explained by the
fact that most fans were not familiar with the
concept of loge seats, as they are not as popu-
lar in college venues as they are in professional
arenas.
“You don’t see [loge boxes] a lot in central
Illinois,”says Bobbi Busboom,Assistant Ath-
letics Director for Development Operations
at the University of Illinois. “They gave our
fans a whole new way to watch a game.”
“Once people got into that space and expe-
rienced it,many found it to be the best experi-
ence in the building,”adds Hood.
FOOD & BEVERAGE
With new premium space comes new pre-
mium food and beverage. In partnership with
foodservice provider Sodexo, a new F&B ex-
perience was built at State Farm Center, as
was the kitchen and pantry space required to
deliver that experience.
A large new central kitchen,adjacent to the
Traditions Club, now serves all club spaces in
the building,including the Orange Krush and
Legacy Clubs on the mezzanine, then also
with an assist from a new elevator bank, Club
53 at the event level.
From a general concessions standpoint, all
the concession stands are self-contained, and
most locations have new equipment to sup-
port new menus.
A STORY OF LEGACY AND
TRADITION
The legacy of State Farm Center continues.
The integrity of Max Abramovitz’s origi-
nal masterpiece remains intact, now with an
updated business model, product mix, and
brushstrokes that add new layers of tradition
to that masterpiece,allowing new generations
to experience its history and future.
“We feel great about making the building
viable and able to perform at a high level for
another 50 years,”says Brown.
– Jared Frank
CREATING A FAN PROFILE
INWEGO will constantly improve the fan
experience by using information on subscrib-
ers like number of games attended or if they
went with other INWEGO users. In the fu-
ture, teams will be able to tell if subscribers
purchased additional upgrades or experiences
through the app, enabling the teams to better
serve their fans.
“It’s difficult getting information on people
just coming into the stadium,” says Foster.
“With INWEGO, we’ll create a dossier on
these fans up front,so teams can better market
to them.”
Thorpe agrees that gathering data on fans
is the best way to provide an experience that
goes above and beyond.
“Once we have had enough events with
INWEGO, then we’ll better understand
what our fans want,” he says. “In the last few
years, in collegiate and pro sports, we’ve had
to become more specialized in what we de-
liver to fans. While the key focus of Georgia
Tech is education, our largest income stream
is ticket sales.”
WHAT’S NEXT
Foster says there’s talk about tweaking the
month-to-month subscription price,based on
the number of family members with the app,
discounts for those who subscribe for a year,
or suspending a subscription for those who
aren’t interested in a particular sport.
“My hope is that [results] will enlighten us
to what’s working and what’s not,” says Fos-
ter.“Each market presents its own challenges,
and we can’t do this if we can’t continue to
make this valuable to teams and big ticketing
partners.”
To market INWEGO in the future, there
are plans to team up with COX Enterprises,
the conglomerate that owns Experience, and
take advantage of all their media outlets, in-
cluding radio, newspapers, and billboards,
which Foster says, “is an enormous mega-
phone. All those considerations make us
poised for success.”
Foster says he’s optimistic so far and plans
to start looking for the next market,cities with
a big sports presence and an anchor college
or two.
“Diversity in the form of live entertainment,”
he says,“would be the icing on the cake.”
– Jennifer Juergens